Northeastern Huskies (What If?)

The second installment of our "What If?" series continues with Northeastern, which has been "undefeated" since it dropped the program after the 2009 season. As I've wisecracked before, the school probably dumped football only when it realized it still had a football team. I'm not sure in anyone on Huntington Avenue misses football (like many New England schools, hockey dominates the conversation), but for anyone who does, here's what the Huskies' uniforms might have looked like had they stuck around. 

2011: Reebok continues to make the Huskies' unis — they were one of the last teams to use Reebok at the time of the program's cancellation —  and they give Northeastern a template similar to the CFL's Montreal Alouettes (Reebok also made the CFL unis around this time).

2014: Nike takes over and makes some adjustments. The Huskies switch to the Nike Pro Combat template, but the jerseys retain some elements of the 2011 look. The "N" on the helmets is replaced by a paw, and the "retro" Husky (used on the hockey sweaters during this period) appears on the sleeves. Nike also introduces a unique dark gray-and-black alternate uniform, because Nike. A breast cancer awareness uniform features pink helmet trim and socks.

2017: The uniform becomes more streamlined and the jersey fonts are altered. A new black uniform with minimal red elements is added, with an oversized retro Husky on the helmet.

2019: The Huskies celebrate college football's 150th anniversary with a retro helmet and jersey honoring the 1963 Eastern Bowl team, which lost to East Carolina in Allentown, Pa.

2021: Under Armour, which makes Northeastern's hockey uniforms, takes over for football and gives the Huskies a uniform based on their hockey sweaters. The new Husky head logo blends into the black helmet. A rather bizarre all-white alternate uniform is added, with gray numbers, outlined in black, on an icy-white jersey.  

Northeastern Huskies (2002)

I hate to drag the phrase "fake news" here, but let's face it: Preseason polls are generally "fake news." They're mostly based on how teams did last season, with no regard to who's returning, who's left, etc. Maybe it's because I'm steaming that my Black Bears were picked to finish ninth in the CAA preseason poll. (If Maine finishes ninth or lower in 2021, I promise to do a post on the worst team in Maine history, and I think I know which one it is, by far.)

OK, rant over. Let's look at a team that was picked to finish next-to-last in its league in August, and celebrated a league title in November: The 2002 Northeastern Huskies, the only championship team in the program's 77-year history.

The Team: Picked to finish 10th out of 11 teams in the Atlantic 10 (formerly Yankee Conference, now CAA), Northeastern shocked the league by going 10-3 overall, 7-2 in league play to share the A-10 title with defending co-champ Maine (which was picked second in the preseason poll). The Huskies shut out their first two opponents, including a 31-0 shellacking of I-A (FBS) Ohio U. The two league losses were to Delaware and William & Mary. (Oddly, Northeastern and Maine didn't play each other in '02 despite their geographic closeness.) The season ended with a 29-24 loss to Fordham in the NCAA I-AA (FCS) tournament, only the second postseason game in Northeastern's history and the first since a 27-6 loss to East Carolina in the 1963 Eastern Bowl.

The 2003 Northeastern media guide showcases
many of the stars from the '02 season.

The Players: Running back Tim Gale set a single-season school record with 16 touchdowns and tied another with 96 points and was named first-team all A-10, as was OL John McDonald. In the air, quarterback Shawn Brady (isn't that a character on Days of Our Lives?) threw 16 touchdown passes. Linebacker Liam Ezekiel set a school record with 145 tackles and one of three Huskies named all A-10 on defense, along with DL Steve Anzalone and DB Art Smith. Kicker Miro Kesic (first-team all A-10), scored 85 points, fifth most in school history. 

The Coach: I wrote about Don Brown in this post several months back. These days, he's the defensive coordinator at the University of Arizona. (Triviata: Brown started his career in 1978 as an assistant as Hartford (Vt.) High School, a couple TD passes from where I used to live, and was later defensive coordinator at Dartmouth College.)

A 2002 Northeastern program.

The Uniforms: After wearing some pretty ugly unis in 2001, Northeastern went to a look more reminiscent of what it wore in the 90s, with all black at home and all white on the road. The rather busy helmet logo from '01 remained. (The Huskies switched to a simpler block "N" in '04.) 

The Fallout: The 2003 Huskies were picked to win the A-10 (see what I mean about predictions based upon the previous year's results?), and Street & Smith (remember them?) had Northeastern No. 1 in the nation. While the Huskies failed to meet those lofty forecasts, they still finished 8-4 and were ranked Nos. 20 and 19 in the final polls while missing the NCAA tourney. Northeastern never had another winning record before the program was shut down in 2009.

Northeastern Huskies (2001)

We're going to try something a little different. For the next few posts, I'll pull a school out of a hat, then use a random number generator to pick the year, and then write about that team and uniform. Let's see that we get ...

2001 Northeastern? Geez, one year later and I would have had a good team to write about. (The '02 Huskies won the only conference title in their history.)

Anyway, here goes...

The Team: The '01 Huskies went 5-6 overall, 4-5 in Atlantic 10 play for their fourth straight losing season.

A 2002 Northeastern schedule shows the '01 uniform.

The Players: Running back L.J. McKanas ran for a Husky-record 1,756 yards and 14 TDs. Of course, with Northeastern having since dropped football, McKanas will continue to hold those records for some time. McKanas and defensive back T.J. Hill were first-team all-conference. Other all-conference selections were OL Jim Bode (second team), DL Steve Anzalone (second team), DB Art Smith (second team) and LB Liam Ezekiel (third team).

The Coach: Don Brown was in his second year at Northeastern and went 27-20 (one of only three Husky coaches to compile a winning record) from 2000-03, when athletic director Ian McCaw left for UMass and took Brown with him, resulting in an ugly dispute (and the beginning of the end for the program). These days, he's the defensive coordinator at the University of Michigan. 

Northeastern's jerseys, c. 2001.
Not mine, sadly; the pix came from a dealer's site.

The Uniform: Frankly, this might be the ugliest uniform Northeastern ever wore. The helmet logo, featuring the full Huskies logo rather than a paw or a letter "N" as in other years, is too detailed for a helmet and is hard to make out from a distance. The red shirts and black pants just clash (the Huskies went to an all-black ensemble the next year) and the drop-shadow numbers are DOA -- dated on arrival. The "NORTHEASTERN" wordmark, sporting a double outline, is hard to read. Otherwise, not bad. 😎

The Aftermath: As noted earlier, the Huskies shared the A-10 title in '02 and finished No. 11 (Sports Network) and No. 10 (USA Today) in the polls. The '03 team failed the make the tourney, but still finished No. 20/19 in the rankings. Brown left for UMass after the '03 season and led the Minutemen to the 2006 NCAA FCS title game. The Huskies never had another winning record before the program folded after the '09 season. 

Inside the Jersey: Northeastern Huskies (1995-96)

Well, it's Halloween, which means it's time for a journey into the football graveyard in search of a treat from a long-lost program. And who do we see scaring up the kiddies but a Northeastern Husky, searching for some long-ago teammates so he can put a team back onto the field? OK, I'm rambling ... "et's go inside the jersey with this mid-90s Northeastern jersey, a style originally profiled here back in early 2016.

The Jersey: Northeastern 1995-96. The '94 style had a College Football 125th anniversary patch on the front, which may or may not have been worn on this one and been removed after the season. Can't tell.

How It Was Acquired: eBay, for about $40. Not bad, considering Northeastern jerseys don't appear that often.

Who Made It: Wilson.

Who Wore It: If my parents hadn't tossed out my old Maine-Northeastern programs from my college days, I could tell you.

Size: XL. This jersey may be from the 1990s, but it has a couple hardcore 80s features: The bottom is cut very high, so you can see which players have innies or outies; and the fishnet mesh pattern, perfect for those November games in 30-degree weather. 

The "2" has shown some wear and tear,
and is a different shape than the "2"s on
the front and back.

Condition: Some definite game use, as evidenced by the worn-out "2" on the sleeve. A photo from a 1990s Cauldron yearbook shows the road versions getting use in practice, so I suspect the homes may also have been recycled, as well. 

Other Stuff: The aforementioned "2" is slanted, while the "2s" on the front and back are straight across. ... The original jerseys had names on the back, and this shirt has some evidence of a nameplate removal ... The Yankee Conference patch on the front is intact. The YC's last year as 1996 before it morphed in the Atlantic 10 the next season ... My jersey is distinctly maroon in color (who made these, Harvard or UMass grads?). I've seen action photos of both maroon and bright red Huskies jerseys.

Ah, the days of the Yankee Conference. Northeastern
tried to join for about 25 years before it finally was admitted
in 1993.

Final Verdict: An odd jersey of a defunct team, perfect for Halloween. 

More Northeastern uniforms from beyond the grave: 2008-09, 1997, 1994-96, 1989-90, 1982-86, 1976-77, 1973-75, 1963-68, 1936, 1935.

Yale Bulldogs (1972-73); New Hampshire Wildcats (1993); Northeastern Huskies (1997)

Our last post, on Cornell's 100 years of football patch, had me thinking of other teams that celebrated their school's or program's centennial with a patch or decal.

Celebrating your team's 100th birthday is one thing ...
but your 101st? Check out the helmet on the Yale player
in this 1973 Yale Daily News pic.

The early 1970s Yale Bulldogs took perhaps took the most unorthodox method. The sons of old Eli simply took the famous "100" decal teams used in 1969 to celebrate college football's centennial and slapped it in front of the trademark "Y" on the side of the helmet. (Yale used the "100" decal on the helmet front in '69). Whether to be different -- or perhaps they were just too lazy to peel the decals off -- the Bulldogs replaced the "100" with a "101" in '73.

The UNH centennial logo, taken from an image in the 1994 Granite yearbook.

New Hampshire's decal celebrated the school's centennial with a patch using the trademark image of Thompson Hall that used to be part of the school's non-athletics logo (until it was replaced by the current "NH" seal, which set off a debate more intense than internet uniform arguments) and was frequently featured on the cover of the school yearbook, The Granite.

Northeastern's patch celebrated the school's 100th anniversary. The football team made it to only 76 years before it died in 2009. The patch was also used on the hockey jerseys during the 1997-98 season.

This was also the first year Northeastern went back to black jerseys after three seasons in red. In true Northeastern fashion, the Huskies went back to red in '99. That said, the "paw-on-shoulder" jerseys are among my favorite from the pooches.

A couple other centennials already have been observed here: Penn (1976) and Delaware (1989).

Yale uniforms: 2015, 2014, 2013, 2006-11, 1997-98, 1994, 1996, 1979-82, 1978, 1974-77, 1967-68, 1965, 1959-60, 1954-58, 1930. Rivalry Week: Harvard-Yale.

UNH uniforms: 2015, 2014, 2010-13, 1998, 1975, 1968-71 (part 1),  1969-71 (part 2), 1966-67, 1950, 1947-48, 1938, 1936. Rivalry Week: Maine-UNH.

Northeastern uniforms: 2008-09, 1994-96, 1989-90, 1982-86, 1976-77, 1973-75, 1963-68, 1936, 1935.

Northeastern Huskies (1935)

As noted in our last post, the 1935 Northeastern uniform used a kick-arse husky dog on the front. Some schools (Maine, Rhody) had amplified versions of the "letter" logo on the front, but Northeastern's the only school I know of in this project to have an actual mascot on the jersey fronts. It almost resembles a hockey jersey more than a football jersey.

Anyway, this uniform rules by all standards of time. Enjoy.

From the 1936 Cauldron yearbook.

Some more doggie treats from Northeastern: 2008-09, 1994-96, 1989-90, 1982-86, 1976-77, 1973-75, 1963-68, 1936.

Northeastern Huskies (1936)

The early days of Northeastern football featured some wild, flashy uniforms, including one with a Husky dog on the front of the jersey (must ... add ... to blog ... soon). This model from 1936, the program's fourth year, sports tons of stripes and tons of red at home, which contrasts with the conservative road jersey (but look at those strange numbers!).

The 1936 Huskies strike a pose (top) and in action (above).
These are both from the school's digital collections, which has a
modest but cool collection of football photos.

The schedule featured teams that today would spread across the board from the Power Five (Boston College) to FBS in good standing (UConn) to FCS (Rhode Island) to Division II (St. Anselm) to D-III (St. Lawrence; AIC) to the nonexistent (Arnold; Lowell Textile, a forerunner of UMass Lowell).

More photos of the '36 Huskies, from the '37 Cauldron yearbook.

Some more doggie treats from Northeastern: 2008-09, 1994-96, 1989-90, 1982-86, 1976-77, 1973-75, 1963-68.

Old-timey sportswriters used all sorts of, er, creative monikers on the local ball club.
Maine was often the Pale Blue Gridsters or the Bricemen (in honor of 1920s-30s coach Fred Brice).
The '37 Cauldron takes it a step further and uses a different label for EVERY GAME played in '36.
McCoy is Alfred McCoy, the team's coach for its first four seasons.
Our Cossets?!

Northeastern Huskies (1994-96)

Until the last decade, when college football uniforms morphed into a bizarre weekly fashion show for teens who are sucked into shiny objects, one telltale sign of a poor program was an inconsistent uniform design. Northeastern, with a mere six winning seasons over the last 30 years of the program, fell into this rut. Some years, the Huskies wore black jerseys, others red, which was the case in the mid-90s. The traditional "NORTHEASTERN" word mark was ditched for a big "HUSKIES" at home (and occasionally on the road; I suspect the "HUSKIES" roads may have been worn in '95 as well, but I have no visual proof yet).

A mid-90s Northeastern home shirt, taken from an online ad.

The Huskies' 97 sked shows off the 1996 uniform.

As the examples above show, not all the Yankee Conference patches (God, I love those) were in the same spot, and some -- but not all -- shirts had the college football 125th anniversary patch.

In '97, the Huskies returned to a black home jersey that closely mirrored the first 1995-96 road shirt.

As this image from the '97 Cauldron yearbook shows, the road shirts
also doubled as practice jerseys. Another sign your program's not doing well.

This Bangor Daily News photo shows Northeastern playing Maine in Portland
in 1996 -- a game I attended, for what it's worth.

Some more doggie treats from Northeastern: 2008-09, 1989-90, 1982-86, 1976-77, 1973-75, 1963-68.

Northeastern Huskies (1973-75)

With Halloween approaching, we'll focus on the gone-but-not-forgotten members of the football graveyard for the next few posts.

We'll start with Northeastern, a team that couldn't decide if gray should be part of its color scheme or not, as you can see from the examples above. From the 1950s through the '80s, the Huskies wore gray pants some years and jettisoned them the others. Perhaps they just a tossed a coin in the pre-season?

Northeastern in action in 1974, still wearing the 75th anniversary patch from '73.

Also of note is the special patch Northeastern wore to celebrate the school's 75th anniversary. The patch's logo was given big play in the school's Cauldron yearbook:

What's strange is that the patch was worn for the 1974 season, too. Best guess is that no one felt like removing the patch and besides, fans would notice only the funky-for-the-70s, all-lowercarse "nu" part.

The backside of Northeastern's road uniforms at UNH in 1975.

Some more doggie treats from Northeastern: 2008-09, 1989-90, 1982-86, 1976-77, 1963-68.

Northeastern Huskies (1963-68)

During its 67-year-existence on the gridiron, Northeastern could never settle on a home jersey color. Some years, the Huskies wore black shirts; in others, they did battle in red. Well, in the 1960s the answer was "none of the above," as they exclusively wore white home and road. 

It sounds simple, but the Huskies often wore more than one jersey style, plus they made subtle changes on a year-to-year basis. Stripes on the shoulders one year, on the sleeves another, forget stripes; how about numbers? And what color should those numbers be?

Northeastern takes on UNH at home in 1963.
Those houses in the background tell you it's definitely Parsons Field.

Northeastern's other white jersey in '63 had shoulders on the sleeves.
Notice the shorter sleeves; perhaps this was a warm-weather shirt?
I think the Cauldron ran this pic three straight years.

What made this a challenge to research was the tendency of the school yearbook (the Cauldron) to recycle photos in the mid-60s. Some photos ran two or even three straight years. Perhaps the folks at the Cauldron figured no one would know the difference?

Nineteen sixty-eight was a transitional year for Northeastern; it was the last year of white-at-home, but it was the first year of the awesome "NU" helmet logo, which was used for the next 10 years.

More from '63.

Northeastern facing Colby (I think) in '64.
By this time, numbers were on the helmets.

Crave some Husky leftovers? Some more Northeastern uniforms: 2008-09, 1989-90, 1982-86, 1976-77.